The files above were removed from Mega (a cloud service I had been using to provide downloads) on the 20th of April 2015, after a complaint by the Church of Scientology. They are now hosted elsewhere, and you can download them again.

The founder of Scientology, L Ron Hubbard was obsessed with the possibility of betrayal. As a result, Scientology developed a formal system of institutional scrutiny and surveillance. Tellingly, Hubbard demanded that Scientologists not only behaved according to his rules, but also that they policed their own thoughts – having negative thoughts about Scientology (or its founder, or its management) was, and still is a punishable offence.

It is a matter of faith among Scientologists that “The Tech” (the techniques of Scientology developed by Hubbard) always and without exception works. If an organisation fails (for example by not meeting its sales targets) it is assumed that someone on the staff is sabotaging it, and Security Checks (AKA Sec Checks) can be used to ferret out the offenders.

In such a case suspects are read a list of questions, which are read out while connected to an e-meter. Disaffected Scientologists state that believers are convinced that, when they are connected to an e-meter, that the operator can interpret the needle movements in such as way as to discern their inner thoughts.

Innocence is no protection. Since Scientology always worked, you must have done something wrong, or you would not be undergoing a Sec Check. Worse yet, offences that were supposedly committed in previous lives can supposedly be detected by the e-meter. In practice, the accused almost always makes some form of confession, which is recorded and may be used against them, should they leave Scientology).

The ‘previous lives’ aspect explains some of the more bizarre question, for example:

Did you come to Earth for evil purposes?

Have you ever enslaved a population?

Have you ever destroyed a culture?

Have you ever torn out someone’s tongue?

Have you ever zapped anyone?

Have you ever eaten a human body?

Have you ever made a planet, or nation, radioactive?

Scientology characterises the Sec Check as a “Confessional”. It is better described a cross between an interrogation and a witch hunt. The true purpose was revealed by Hubbard when he told Security checkers that, “You are not merely an observer, or an auditor, you are a detective.”

Finally: yes, you did read the titles correctly – there is a children’s Sec Check. Children aged between six and twelve are assured that the e-meter can tell if they are lying, and are then subjected to 99 questions, including:

What has somebody told you not to tell?

Have you ever decided you didn’t like some member of your family?

Have you ever taken something belonging to somebody else and never given it back?

Have you ever pretended to be sick (ill)?

Have you ever made yourself sick (ill) or hurt yourself to make somebody sorry?